The Predictable Revenue Podcast

Kevin Dorsey, SnackNation's VP of Sales, joins host Collin Stewart for this edition of Predictable Revenue podcast. SnackNation, based in the Los Angeles area, is a healthy snack delivery company used by some of the world's most well known companies – Oracle, Microsoft and Mazda, to name just a few. Kevin is true jack of all trades: charismatic sales leader, productivity coach and public speaker. In this episode, Kevin and Collin have an in-depth discussion on the need to elevate the critical role of the SDR – a wide-ranging theme Kevin also details in his thought-provoking posts, "The Sales Industry is Backwards 1 & 11." Highlights include: SnackNation's weekly, company-wide 'sensei' sessions and growing revenue 11x in ONE YEAR (6:39), Kevin's journey from kinesiology student to sales leader (11:01), the need for sales training in schools (13:07), SnackNation SDR training (18:30), and why Kevin feels expectations of an SDR are unfair (29:45).

Kevin Dorsey, SnackNation's VP of Sales, joins host Collin Stewart for this edition of Predictable Revenue podcast. SnackNation, based in the Los Angeles area, is a healthy snack delivery company used by some of the world's most well known companies – Oracle, Microsoft and Mazda, to name just a few. Kevin is true jack of all trades: charismatic sales leader, productivity coach and public speaker. In this episode, Kevin and Collin have an in-depth discussion on the need to elevate the critical role of the SDR – a wide-ranging theme Kevin also details in his thought-provoking posts, "The Sales Industry is Backwards 1 & 11." Highlights include: SnackNation's weekly, company-wide 'sensei' sessions and growing revenue 11x in ONE YEAR (6:39), Kevin's journey from kinesiology student to sales leader (11:01), the need for sales training in schools (13:07), SnackNation SDR training (18:30), and why Kevin feels expectations of an SDR are unfair (29:45).

In this edition of the Predictable Revenue podcast, host Collin Stewart (flying solo) welcomes Kent Venook, Senior Director of Sales Development at Talkdesk, a rapidly-growing call centre software company based in San Francisco. Kent is a Bay Area sales veteran with significant team-building experience. Prior to leading business development at Talkdesk, Kent helped scale the SDR sales team at Apttus from 4 to 100 members. In this episode, Collin and Kent do a deep dive into the ever-important world of Salesforce (a company Aaron may have heard of :) ). Collin and Kent chat about how Salesforce consistency is critical to both scaling a sales team as well as diagnosing and fixing issues in the sales funnel. Highlights include: designing and teaching SDRs how to manage the key planks of Salesforce (14:00), the balancing act and benefits of implementing sales processes (26:52), how Talkdesk tiers its accounts (33:03), and Talkdesk's lofty quotas (41:10).

In this edition of the Predictable Revenue podcast, hosts Aaron Ross and Collin Stewart welcome Kyle Norton, Sales Coach at League, a growing Toronto-based company redefining the traditional realm of employee healthcare insurance. In addition to being an all-around sales enthusiast (with years of management experience and plenty of tips and trick to share), Kyle is an avid mixed martial artist and the second Canadian we've had on the show this week. Throughout this episode, Aaron, Collin and Kyle delve into the intricate world of cadence building, communicating with prospects and establishing a productive sales culture. Highlights include: the importance of constant learning when building and refining outbound sales teams (1:38), League's detailed outbound cadences and how the team build its funnel (8:02), defining (and working) different targets (18:14), establishing vertical segmentation amid League's rapid growth (25:31), the nuances of prospecting to Canada vs. the US (28:08), and some of the mistakes Kyle's made along the way (30:30).

This week, Aaron Ross and Collin Stewart chat with Ryan Donohue, SDR Manager at Venminder, a leading fintech company tackling the complex vendor management function faced by large-scale financial institutions. Ryan's an experienced – and prolific! – sales leader, having built six SDR teams over the past six years. Ryan's also a dedicated sales mentor and active community member as the GM of Denver's Enterprise Sales Meetup. Aaron, Collin and Ryan talk networking, the importance of being detail oriented and why having "too many" touchpoints isn't such a bad thing. Highlights include: reaching out to people whose work you admire (51 seconds), looking holistically at your entire sales function (3:21), Venminder's funnel (7:47), tailoring demos (17:53), building an SDR playbook (29:14), why organization is a critical trait for any succesful SDR (37:26).

In this instalment of the Predictable Revenue podcast, Aaron Ross and Collin Stewart dive deep into the emerging world of video sales development with Terrance Kwok. Terrance is the Sales Development Manager at Vidyard, a Toronto-area company working to revolutionize outbound prospecting via its video platform. In addition to his role as a sales team leader, Terrance is also a former startup founder, senior accountant and fellow Canadian. Aaron, Collin and Terrance examine the development of Vidyard's funnel, the ups and downs of selling video prospecting, humanizing the sales process and ditching email templates entirely. Highlights include: defining qualified meetings (13:15), Vidyard's evolution from an inbound to an outbound-focused shop (19:15), putting a "face" to the touchpoints (25:48), the challenges of using video (27:33), hyper-personalizing emails (32:40), prospecting Canadian companies (38:17) and staying close to the grind (43:10).

Spiff specialist Zach Barney joins hosts Aaron Ross and Collin Stewart on this edition of the Predictable Revenue podcast. Zach is the Director of Sales Development at Teem, a rapidly growing cloud-based solution for booking meetings and managing workspaces based in Salt Lake City. When not leading his team, Zach's helping raise his 4 kids, runs races and helping triathletes secure sponsorships. He also hosts his local Sales Hacker community. Zach's a busy guy. In this episode, Zach and Collin dissect the always entertaining world of spiffs – what works, what doesn't and how to keep it fresh. Highlights include: why cash spiffs don't work (11:43), coming up with new ideas (13:59), compensating SDRs properly (16:23), the importance of getting on the phone (23:28) and establishing buyer personas (27:04).

This week, Aaron Ross and Collin Stewart talk with Matt Amundson, VP of Sales Development and Field Marketing at Everstring, an innovative Bay Area company strengthening marketing and sales teams through an AI- and machine learning-focused platform. Matt's an award-winning sales leader, with previous management posts at high-profile organizations like TIBCO Software and Marketo. He's also a recovering inbound lead addict…and a self-proclaimed cupcake connoisseur. In this episode, Aaron, Collin and Matt chat about understanding the Millennial brain, cultivating creativity, the growing importance of social selling, breaking away from high-velocity prospecting and the renaissance of account-based sales. Highlights include: managing young reps and getting over "phone fear" (6:00), embracing social selling (15:27), inspiring thoughtful SDRs and focusing on account-based sales (17:45), drafting persona-based cadences (28:00), hiring the best candidates (43:25), building an SDR team from the ground up (48:13).